HAMPTON, Ga - Even though he qualified 29th Friday, Ty Dillon couldn’t stop smiling. The speed, the thrill and experience provided an Adrenaline rush that left him wanting more.

He’ll get that chance Sunday when he makes his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup start, joining Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex Jr., among others, who made their series debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It also comes at a track where Dillon won his first NASCAR Camping World Truck race in 2012.

For Dillon, this continues the path his older brother Austin followed on the way to the Cup Series under the supervision of their grandfather, Richard Childress.

Ty Dillon’s previous success at Atlanta made this among the tracks the Childress looked at for him to run a Cup car this season.

“We didn’t really talk about it very much during most of the season, and then things kind of came together,’’ Dillon said. “Here recently we got the sponsorship to make things happen. So it all started off with me and him; he had a plan to run me in a Cup race. We sat down and picked a few tracks, and this was one of them.’’

As Dillon looks ahead to his Cup debut, he also is focused on a Nationwide title. He entered Saturday’s race third in the standings, 17 points behind fellow rookie Chase Elliott.

Dillon doesn’t see the Cup race as a distraction toward his Nationwide title hopes.

“I think it’s only going to be a positive for my Nationwide program to be in the Cup race this year,’’ said Dillon, who has four top-five finishes in the last six Nationwide races. “It will slow everything down for me.

“The way our Nationwide team is performing right now I think we have a great opportunity of winning a race and really piling on some points for this championship.’’

With making his Cup debut, he’ll get a chance to race against Austin.

“We’re always cheering for each other and pushing each other to be the best,’’ Ty Dillon said. “Because of our competitive edge, we want to have more wins than the other one or more championships or more top fives or whatever else. We’re always going to compete whether it’s seeing who can get out of the car first, who can get in the car first, racing to the car on our feet – we’re going to compete.’’